Attic Inscriptions Online

Honours for Xenokles of Sphettos

I Eleus. 95 Date:
321/0 or 318/7 BC

When Onetor was demarch,
in the archonship of Archippos (321/0 or 318/7),[1] the deme of Eleusis and the Athenians on guard duty (phulakēi)[2] decided:
(5) for good fortune, [Moi]r[okles] son of Euthydemos of Eleusis[3] proposed:
since the law requires that it be
specified in the decree
what benefit the recipient of a grant has done to
(10) the city,[4] and Xenokles,[5] having been elected manager both of the sanctuary of the Two Goddesses
and of the Mysteries,[6] conducted his offices piously and -
and with love of honour (philotimōs);
(15) and in order that the sacred objects
be conveyed safely and finely[7] as well as the gathering of
Greeks coming to Eleusis and
to the sanctuary for the festival, and those
(20) living on the outskirts (proastion) of the town and the farmers
be relieved (sōizōntai), he is building (kataskeuazei) a stone bridge,[8] spending his own
money on it,[9] and having managed (diacheirisas) public funds both previously
(25) and now[10] is crowned
for his justice,[11] and in his
liturgies . . . People or deme . . . . . .

[1] The date is uncertain since the eponymous archons of both years shared the same name.[2] This refers to the Athenian garrison stationed in Eleusis which apparently continued in place after Athens’ defeat in the Lamian War and the imposition of a Macedonian garrison stationed at Mounychia in 322 BC.[3] A prominent politician on whom see IG II3 4, 232 with note.[4] A notable law which is documented only here. The legal obligation to specify an honorand’s benefaction was no doubt intended to prevent the abusive bestowal of honours. We cannot tell whether this law was passed before or after the implementation of the oligarchic regime by Antipater following Athens' defeat in the Lamian War in 322.[5] This was Xenokles son of Xeinis of Sphettos, one of the leading figures of Lykourgan Athens. See IG II3 4, 212 with notes.[6] On this office see IG II3 4, 212, note 3.[7] This is apparently a reference to the procession at the beginning of the Mysteries in which the sacred objects were led from the Eleusinion in Athens to the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore in Eleusis; cf. I. Eleus. 489 and 638 with Clinton´s notes.[8] This infrastrucuture improvement was important for the sanctuary, the deme and the garrison, since a durable bridge over the Kephisos river (near Eleusis) secured the connection with Athens. The present tense used in ll. 21–22 suggests that the works on the building had not yet been completed when this decree was passed.[9] This remarkable benefaction, also commemorated in an epigram (Anth. Pal. 9.147, cf. IG II3 4, 212 with notes) is one of the earliest explicit references to financial euergetism in an Athenian decree. For other, less explicit, examples see IG II3 1, 338, ll. 14–18 with note 3; IG II3 1, 348, ll. 15–17; I Eleus. 93 and IG II3 4, 1057 with notes.[10] The management of public funds “previously” is perhaps a reference to Xenokles‘ tenure of office “in charge of the financial administration”, epi tei dioikesei; cf. I Eleus. 87. “Now” is a reference to his offices as manager of the Eleusinian sanctuary and the Mysteries.[11] This is a reference to crowns awarded by the People following successful tenure of office, both "previously" and "now". For the award of crowns in these circumstances cf. AIO Papers 9.